Next Time
by wizardofahz
Summary: "I don't think it's about the case." JJ's promotion didn't come as a surprise to everyone.


Disclaimer: As much as it saddens me to admit it, I don't own _Criminal Minds_. Sighs Step #1 out of the way. Goodbye, Denial! What comes next?

A/N: This little idea came to me while re-watching "JJ". First scene takes place sometime after "Honor Among Thieves". They are in chronological order, and there are hints as to after which episodes they've occurred. Prentiss POV.

* * *

><p>I brace myself as I hand my keys to the valet.<p>

Lunch with my mother.

Great.

Absolutely wonderful.

So wonderful I want to run back to the BAU bullpen and hide under my desk.

Don't get me wrong. Things have been better ever since the case we worked together, but some things never change. The past few meals together have proved that.

I walk into the restaurant and find my mother already seated at a table. "Mother," I greet.

"Emily," she responds. "I took the liberty of ordering. Do you mind?"

Drats. Time for small talk. But, really, what can I say?

"No, not at all."

"How are you?"

Oh joy. Here comes the usual.

"Works been a handful, but I've been good. And you?"

"Quite all right. I still don't have much to do, but I'm adjusting."

Silence falls.

"How's your team?"

Did not see that one coming.

I pause before answering. It's strange that she's asking about a team she wants me to leave, but her tone seems conversational enough. I'm hoping she's just gotten better at pretending to care.

"They're doing well."

Mother nods. "And how's Agent Jareau doing?"

That question throws me for a loop.

"Sorry?"

I can't help but be surprised that Mother even remembers who JJ is.

"Agent Jareau. How's she been?"

"Also well, I suppose."

"Good to hear," Mother acknowledges with a nod.

And the topic of the team doesn't come up again.

* * *

><p>After lunch, I can't help but stare blankly at the pile of files on my desk.<p>

My mother and JJ. That's a weird combination.

Mother is impersonal and bureaucratic.

JJ is warm and empathetic.

Opposites attract.

Wait! No! Random thought alley of doom. Definitely not going there.

Back to rational thought: Mother is an ambassador, JJ's a liaison.

Their jobs are rather similar. But where does that even get me?

"Hey, Prentiss. You ok over there?"

I look up to see Morgan looking at me with concern.

"Yeah," I say, gesturing to a random file. "I just need to talk to JJ."

I wander over to her office and am relieved to find she's actually there.

"Jayje, you got time to talk?"

"Umm…"

She has three files spread open across her desk and another open in her hands. Her eyes wander over the mountains of files all over her office.

"You know what? Nevermind. It's nothing."

Before I can back out of her office, she stops me.

"Em, wait."

She gestures for me to sit with the now-closed file in her hands and then proceeds to "clean" her desk. That is to say, she closes all the open files and then plops them down on some indiscriminate pile of papers.

Then she turns all her attention to me.

"Everything ok?"

"Uh, well. Yeah? I guess. I mean –"

"Emily," she cuts me off. "What's going on?"

"My mother asked about you today," I blurt.

JJ scrunches her face in confusion. "Me?"

"Yeah. I was confused too."

"Why would she ask about me?"

"Jayje, I'm pretty sure I just said I was confused too."

"Sorry, I just… That's so weird."

"I know. I guess I just wanted to see if you two had been bonding in secret or something."

I say it as a joke, but I guess it's a weird phobia of mine. JJ has some weird ability to break down people's internal walls. Also, she's probably much closer to my mother's ideal daughter than I am or would ever be. I can't help but feel worried that I had been replaced. Of course, why JJ would ever want that escaped me. My mother would never be considered the epitome of being a good mother.

I am relieved when JJ breaks out into a laugh.

"That would be... mind-boggling."

"Yeah," I laugh.

Mind-boggling indeed.

* * *

><p>"Hey," I say, poking my head into JJ's office. "We're going to head out for drinks. You in?"<p>

"Uhh, no. I don't think so."

Her brow is furrowed, and she's absent-mindedly flipping through files.

"You ok? Is there something wrong with Henry? Or Will?"

She finally looks up, seemingly startled by the question. "Everyone's fine."

"Then what's going on?"

She sighs.

"I keep getting these offers from other departments and agencies." She gestures at her phone.

"Is that unusual?"

"No, but after the anthrax case it's been less about transfer offers and more about promotions. I guess some of them are impressed with the way I liaised with the military."

"That doesn't sound so bad. You're being recognized for your work."

"I don't want to leave."

I'm relieved by her answer. Maybe it's selfish of me, but I don't want her to leave either.

"Maybe you should stop being so good at your job," I kid her. "Besides, you're making the rest of us look bad."

JJ rolls her eyes, but before she can respond, her phone rings.

She looks at it sadly.

"Maybe it's Will," I offer.

JJ shakes her head. "I wish," she says as she reaches to quiet her phone.

"You're not going to answer it?"

She shrugs. "Don't feel like it."

"Well, come on out with us for drinks. Get your mind off things."

"Thanks, but I'm going to head home and get my mind off things by watching _Yo Gabba Gabba_ with Henry."

"All right then. Have fun."

"You too."

As I head out the door, I turn back to say one last thing.

"I'm glad you don't want to leave, Jayje."

* * *

><p>"A word of warning, Emily. "<p>

I can't help but groan internally as Mother says this.

"Your friend Jennifer may be getting some offers soon."

A sigh of relief.

"That's nothing new, Mother. Besides, she always declines them."

Her hand waves away my statement.

"I am aware. However, this time she may not have a choice. If she wants to stay where she is, she needs to screw up a little."

If I wasn't clenching my teeth, I'm sure my jaw would've fallen in shock. I can't believe she even suggested that.

"Mother, in our line of work, screwing up is the difference between life and death."

Mother waves her hand in a "yeah, yeah" sort of gesture.

"Well, at the very least, she needs to stop doing her job so well. Managing to get on the phone with the Secretary of Homeland Security is actually quite the achievement."

"She was doing her job."

"And she's being noticed more and more because of it. Napolitano isn't the only Secretary that's impressed with Agent Jareau."

"Why tell me this?"

"I do care about you, Emily, and I've heard enough to know that your team is very important to you. If you want her to stay on your team, warn her. Let her know."

I nod, but there's no way I'm telling JJ any of this. JJ's always gone beyond the call of duty and done it extremely well, which has had an amazing effect for our team, local LEOs, victims, and their family and friends. I don't want JJ to leave, but what JJ does is so natural to her, so inherent. I'm not going to tell her to stop being her.

* * *

><p>"I don't think it's about the case."<p>

"Do you know something?" Garcia asked.

Oops… Danger! Danger, Will Robinson! Time to retreat.

"Do _I_ know something?"

"She just repeated the question," Garcia says, turning to Morgan. "You always say that's a sign."

Damn. That's what I get for working with profilers. I really should've known better.

"Do you know why JJ's in there?" Morgan asks.

"I have no idea."

I shake my head as I say this, hoping that will convince them once and for all.

* * *

><p>"Hey," I say as JJ sits.<p>

"Hey." Her response is quiet. – understated just like her.

I'm sure she can feel Morgan's eyes boring into her, asking her for an explanation.

She does.

"I got this offer from the Pentagon. I turned it down twice. I never told Hotch or Strauss."

Ah, Mother's warning come to life.

"And now Strauss wants you to take it," Morgan says. JJ nods in confirmation. "Well of course she does. It'll make her look good if you get promoted.

"I don't trust her for a second."

Good. But in this situation, I'm pretty sure it's not Strauss she has to worry about.

"You shouldn't. What does Hotch say?"

"He knows I don't want to go."

"Well then you won't."

I hope. False hope, perhaps. But Hotch is not connectionless. I suppose I'm hanging on to that one last thread of hope, false or not.

JJ changes the subject to the case, and I'm slightly grateful that I can get my mind off of deluding myself.

* * *

><p>Hotch's office door slam plus JJ's apologetic expression equals…<p>

"No."

The inevitable has happened.

"Wait a minute. I thought Hotch was supposed to – "

"It's above his paygrade. Strauss' too."

This indicates that Strauss tried to help. Fruitless, but interesting nonetheless.

"They can't just take you away."

Oh Reid. Naïve, naïve Reid.

"So we do nothing?"

I'm racking my brain for any connections I haven't thought of. Mother has a lot of friends in the Pentagon. Maybe I can convince one of them to help.

"It's done."

There's that one friend of mine in the CIA. He climbed the ranks pretty quickly, I'm sure he has some pretty decent connections by now.

"It can't be that simple."

Which Department was it that's pulling JJ away? Did she mention it?

"It is."

JJ's responses are short and almost lifeless. I can tell she's accepted her fate. I suppose I should too.

The rest of the team, however, won't.

"This job is hard enough. What are they trying to do bury us?"

But I know it has nothing to do with us, and everything to do with her.

"You're too good. That's the problem."

I keep my eyes away from the group. Surrender is not an expression I wear well.

"It's true. You're on everybody's wish list. Our loss is somebody else's gain."

"They can't just take you away."

Oh, Reid. I wish I believed that too.

* * *

><p>It's Friday night.<p>

And this time "no" is not an acceptable answer when we ask JJ out to a bar.

Morgan and Garcia have had a couple of drinks and are giggling on the dance floor.

Hotch and Rossi are off somewhere downing scotch. My guess is Rossi's trying to make Hotch stop feeling guilty.

Reid has been dragged away by some women who think he's cute.

I'm thinking of going to rescue him when I look over to see JJ's blue eyes staring right through me.

"You knew."

JJ's finger traces along the top of her glass, which is nearly full.

"You know, the point of coming to a bar is to drink," I say, gesturing at her glass.

JJ nods but doesn't make a move to drink it. JJ's never been that into drinking. I've seen her have the occasional glass of wine or beer, but that's about it.

"How did you know?"

Great. She won't let it go.

"For someone who isn't a profiler, you're damn good at reading people."

She takes a sip of her drink and contemplates.

"Maybe I just know you."

Maybe she does.

"My mother warned me," I admit. "She also mentioned that you wouldn't necessarily have a choice."

I down the rest of my drink and ask the bartender for another.

Suddenly, JJ says, "Thanks."

That catches me by surprise. What on Earth is she thanking me for?

She smiles and, as if she's read my mind, says, "For not acting like I was doomed from the start. For offering hope."

I have no idea what to say to that.

But I don't need to say anything, because JJ asks, "How about a game of darts?"

"You're kidding, right? At least give me an option in which I have a chance at winning."

"Fine," JJ's says and finishes her drink in one gulp. She shudders and mutters, "Oh man, that's vile."

She gestures to the bartender for another drink and then says, "All right, Em. Drunken darts!"

"You've only had one drink!" I protest.

"Plus the one the bartender's bringing makes it two. Come on, Em, this is going to be the drunkest you've ever seen me."

I glance at her already reddening cheeks and can't help but smile.

Of course, JJ's a lightweight. She's tiny.

"All right, fine," I agree. "But you still have to throw with your left hand."

"Ok," JJ grins happily and stumbles off her stool. "Let's get this party started."

Somehow JJ still manages to win, but not by as much.

As we all stumble out of the bar, JJ hugs me and jokes, "Maybe next time, I'll let you win."

Next time.

I like the sound of that.

"See you later," I say.

I'll make sure of that.


End file.
